CPJ calls on Turkey to release American journalist

New York, August 13, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish authorities to release American journalist Jake Hess, who is being detained in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, according to the Turkish dailyHürriyet. Hess is accused of collaborating with the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), referred to in news reports as the "urban wing" of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Hess, who is a contributor to
the Inter Press Service new agency, was detained on Wednesday evening,
according to Serkan Akbaş, his lawyer. Akbaş told CPJ that Hess "wrote several articles that angered the
authorities." He added that when Hess
was arrested the police said he was being detained on
allegations of "aiding the PKK" and that his name was in the
government's file on the KCK.

The
lawyer told CPJ that Hess' name was in the KCK file likely in connection with a translation job he did in 2009 for a nongovernmental organization in Turkey called the Human Rights Association, which has reported extensively on human rights violations related to the Kurdish issue. Akbaş
said that the timing of the arrest "clearly shows that they got annoyed
with his articles." Hess wrote about human rights violations
against Kurds. His latest piece,
about Kurdish refugees who had fled to northern Iraq after the Turkish army
attacked their villages, was published on August 4.

The Anatolia News Agency
reported today that Hess is still being questioned in Diyarbakir and that
police officials told the agency that Hess is not a journalist, and that he may
be deported. An inquiry to the Turkish Embassy in Washington was not
immediately returned.

"Jake Hess is a
legitimate journalist and the mere appearance of his name in KCK documents is
not grounds for detention, prosecution, or deportation," said Mohamed Abdel
Dayem, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. "We call on
Turkish authorities to immediately release Hess and not hinder his
reporting."

Sanjay Suri, the
Inter Press Service's editor-in-chief, confirmed
that Hess is a contributor and told CPJ that his "pieces have been
on rights for Kurds within areas of Turkey and northern Iraq." Suri told
CPJ that Hess is due to appear before a judge on Saturday.

EDITOR'S
NOTE: The work of the Human Rights Association
has been clarified in paragraph three.